


Moving On

by tommygirl



Category: Roswell - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Moving On, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 04:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5771359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tommygirl/pseuds/tommygirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maria stayed in Roswell rather than going with Michael and her friends...and now she's trying to move on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moving On

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the new word challenge (bathtub) at 15minuteficlets. No beta and probably somewhat of an open ending due to the time constraint of 15 minutes.

The bathtub wasn’t like any she had seen before—well, maybe in those magazines or on _MTV Cribs_ , but nothing she had any experience with. It was a huge bathtub, marble, and larger, she decided, than most pools she had ever come into contact with. It might even have been bigger than her house.

Maria wasn’t sure what to make of this. She always wanted to be a girl that was kept in the lap of luxury, someone who looked at a bathtub like this with indifference, someone who was handed a key to her rich boyfriend’s house and thought nothing of it. But the thing was…she wasn’t that girl. And something about this situation felt off to her. Something about moving on with her life with Brody, getting over Michael by getting caught up in some sort of _Pretty Woman_ fantasy (minus the being a prostitute part), seemed wrong. Improbable even.

Especially since Michael was still on her mind. His stupid smirk that made her blood boil beneath the surface and have to resist the urge to sucker punch him. His dark brown eyes that often swung between emptiness and overwhelming emotion. The way his hands felt as they trailed down the length of her and pulled her closer, promising his eternal devotion to her.

Yeah, she was really doing well with this whole getting over him thing.

It had been six months now. Six months since the others left town in that ugly van. Six months of pretending she made the right decision, that everything was fine with her, and that she had her own life without all of them.

It still felt like yesterday in many ways and she wondered if it would ever get any easier. If the lost and empty feeling she carried around would ever go away. She thought dating Brody was the right answer, a way to alleviate the pain in her head, but this bathtub was making her rethink things.

This bathtub was made for someone more elegant, some savvy business woman who needed a place to relax after a long, stressful day. Definitely not for a girl who was still in love with her high school boyfriend. Not for a girl who clung to romantic improbability—Michael would come back for her. They would see each other again—and worked at a diner on the weekends.

Maria turned when she heard the faint knock on the bathroom door. She smiled as Brody opened the door. Slowly, carefully, as not to intrude but to check on her all the same. She wanted to love him. He was perfect and sweet and kind and everything that she thought she should want.

So why was she still stuck on smelly old Michael?

“Are you okay? I didn’t hear the water running and I wanted to make sure everything was alright,” Brody said. He moved in, touched her arm, and moved closer to the bathtub and turned the faucets on. He motioned over to a cabinet and said, “There are a few different soaks to choose from. My daughter thinks it’s important to keep bubble bathes fully stocked in this house.”

Maria smiled at the way Brody’s face lit up when he talked about his daughter. She scolded herself for getting caught up in things that were better left buried. This was her present and possibly her future. This was where she wanted to be, with someone who wasn’t afraid to show how much he cared for people. She nodded and said, “Your daughter is a very smart young lady.”

“Yes, she is,” he replied. Brody took her hands in his and said, “You don’t know how happy it makes me that the two of you get along so well.”

“I think I do.”

”Do you?”

Maria ran her thumb over the top of Brody’s hand and said, “You’re not a very hard read, Brody. You wear your emotions on your face.”

“As do you.”

She shrugged. She hoped that wasn’t true because the moment would be spoiled then. She moved away and said, “I can’t believe this is your bathtub.”

“I rarely use it. I’m more of a shower guy myself, but it came with the estate.”

She nodded and said, “I feel weird using it. Like maybe—“

He shook his head and cut her off, “Maria, I want you to feel like this is your home as much as it is mine. You have a key now. It’s yours to use. All of it.”

Maria leaned over and kissed him. It seemed the thing to do, maybe the way to get Michael off the brain as well. Brody’s arms snaked around her and she was fine. For a minute there, things were okay and she could ignore the grinding sensation in her gut, but then her eyes locked on the bathtub and it overtook her again.

She pulled away and said, “I appreciate the key and everything it entails, Brody.”

“But…”

“ _But_ this might be too fast for me. I’m feeling...confused.”

“I know you still miss Michael, Maria. I’m not a bloody imbecile. I know how first love works.”

She smiled and wanted to ask him why he was so damn good to her and so understanding. Why didn’t he yell at her or make outrageous demands? She replied, “It’s not that—I care for you, Brody. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“I know that as well.”

“I just need time to get used to this.”

“Then time is what you’ll have,” he said. He nudged her toward the cabinet and said, “In the meantime, why not relax a bit?” And with that he disappeared out the door.

Maria forced her legs to move and made the same decision she had that day six months ago all over again: _time to focus on me, time to focus on moving on with my life._

It was time to make that happen.

Michael Guerin was a thing of the past. All the alien drama was behind her and she was happy. Well, she would be once she allowed herself to be and maybe it started with something as simple as a relaxing evening in an elegant bathtub with music playing softly in the background and the promise of a great evening with a great guy.

This was her new life and she was going to make the most of it for once.

_{fin}_


End file.
